INSIDE BASEBALL.

Yanks Pick Up Girardi's Option

Bedridden Dimaggio Shows Improvement, Walks On Own

November 01, 1998|By From Tribune News Services.

The New York Yankees picked up their $3.4 million option on Joe Girardi on Saturday, keeping their catching platoon in place for 1999.

With Jorge Posada emerging as the Yankees' No. 1 catcher, the team had been expected to exercise a $400,000 buyout on Girardi's contract and either try to re-sign him at a lower salary or find a cheaper replacement. But General Manager Brian Cashman decided not to risk losing Girardi, 34, and disrupt the platoon that helped New York win the World Series.

"The success of the Yankees has been built around pitching, and our catchers have clearly played a major role," Cashman said. "At a time when quality catching is at a premium, Joe Girardi is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and Jorge Posada is one of the game's emerging stars at that position."

Girardi, who caught 78 games last season as Posada's playing time increased, batted .276 with three homers and 31 RBIs. Posada batted .268 with 17 homers and 63 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Cashman met Saturday with David Cone and his agent, Steve Fehr, in Tampa about signing a new deal with the pitcher. Cone has until Nov. 4 to decide whether he will exercise his $5.5 million player option or become a free agent. It also appeared the Yankees and Darryl Strawberry, who is recovering from colon cancer surgery, would agree to extend Sunday's deadline for deciding on his option.

DiMaggio improving: Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio did something Saturday he hasn't done in 18 days. He walked on his own.

"He got off his bed and was able to walk to a chair," longtime friend and attorney Morris Engelberg said, barely able to contain his excitement. "His legs held him up and his arms are moving."

Engelberg witnessed the progress during one of his daily visits to DiMaggio, 83, who is recuperating from a life-threatening bout with pneumonia at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla.

"The nurses couldn't believe it," Engelberg said.

That's the ticket: Prepare for a crash: It's not the stock market, but holders of untorn tickets for Mark McGwire's historic games are going to feel like it's 1929.

The St. Louis Cardinals issued season ticket-holders exact duplicates of their tickets for the games at which McGwire broke Roger Maris' record with 62 home runs on Sept. 8 and set the record with 70 on Sept. 27.

The real untorn tickets were considered a rarity and had been selling through trade publications and on-line auctions for between $200 and $450 each. There are no identifying marks to distinguish the original tickets from the duplicates.

"This is an absolute disaster," said Holger Danielsen, owner of AA Paper Collectibles in O'Fallon, Ill. "This is going to destroy any market there is for these tickets."